Messy Drinker

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I've been around here since almost the beginning and I honestly do not believe that we have had this discussion previously.  If we have I apologize in advance!  On FB Doodle Family we have what is referred to as Tongue out Tuesdays where everyone posts photos of the tongue hanging out.  As I've was just sitting here thinking about this it occurred to me that possibly the size of the tongue has something to do with how messy they are when they drink.  My Lucy and Sophie just had normal size tongues and I never really noticed them too much just hanging out.  Neither were/are messy drinkers.  AnnaBelle on the other hand has one of these tongues where I've always said if she grows into her tongue she is going to be a horse.  She is the messiest drinker I've ever seen.  She is very noisy and she leaves a trail 1/2 way through the house every time she drinks.  Anyone have any thoughts on my theory?  I have on occasion thought it was the beard but we had a foster that was messy and he basically had no beard at all. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

JD is a slobhound. He is a very loud, very messy drinker, and he does have a very big tongue. But he also has a long beard, so as Jacqueline said, who knows? 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Neither of my dogs have beards. Calla is a messier drinker than Luca and all of her, including her tongue is bigger. Is it proportionately bigger? I don't know. This will be another Lima bean like study and it will be interesting to hear the results.

[Nancy and Georgia Brown]

I think beards can drip more water, but I think it is also the style of their drinking, and maybe the shape of the snout?

Georgia is not so bad. Her beard gets wet but not a huge problem. But she is pretty delicate in everything she does. No trail of water when she drinks, but I do find individual kibble pieces that aren't up to snuff scattered around her food bowel.

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

Eloise doesn't have much of a beard, but it can collect/drip just a little bit of water with a "normal" drink.  I think that may have more to do with her drinking style, as she seems to keep her face away from the bowl. (Contrast that to when she was a puppy and used to stick her whole muzzle in the water and blow bubbles through her nose!). 

But when she's hot and panting, after playing hard or a long walk, it seems like her tongue is WAY bigger than normal, and oh my gosh, makes the BIGGEST mess with water.  It's like night and day.  That tongue splashes water out of the bowl with every slurp, and she flings it all over the floor and leaves a trail everywhere.  It just drips off her face like a waterfall, so I think at that point her chin is acting like a sponge.  When this happens, there's so much water on the floor, Beasley has started licking up the water off the floor.  It's like a flood!

Luckily, Eloise learned to tolerate me wiping her face when she makes that kind of mess. :)

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I guess I need a Beasley to come lick up the water.  Wouldn't that be wonderful.  AnnaBelle has learned to let me wipe her face as well.  Problem is if I'm not right there to wipe it.  I will also agree that when she is hot and has been playing hard she is even messier than normal, but she is always messy.

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

LOL, if only Beasley was actually neat about it when she's licking up the floor!  She tends to walk through it and track wet pawprints beyond the original mess.  Thanks, little helper!  I've even caught her licking the water off Ellie's chin a few times lately...evidently she prefers the water from everywhere but her water bowl, ha!

[Jen, Buddy, & Kevin]

Both Kevin and Buddy are extremely non-messy drinkers and they both have normal sized tongues. Neither one drips from their beards or splashes water all over the ground. And they are also very deliberate and slow eaters.... We've actually seen Buddy watching messy, loud drinkers with a look on his face like, "what in the world are you doing?"

[Emily, Bentley, & Maserati]

Bentley is a very clean drinker with a beard and a pretty long tongue. Maserati on the other hand leaves quite the trail wherever he goes! He also has a beard and a long tongue.
In our house I think its because Bentley does everything very methodically whereas Maserati is always rushing off to do the next fun thing! 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with this. I don't think it has as much to do with their tongues or their beards as it does with their personalities. And JD is a big slob, lol. 

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Hey, did you just call my adorable Miss AnnaBelle a slob, lol!     That really is another theory because I've been known to say on more than one occasion that "Miss AnnaBelle, you are a mess and total mess".

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Maybe she and JD share a little DNA from that great ancient breed, the Slovokian Slobhound. 

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

lol, I don't doubt it!